GERMAN WWII LUFTWAFFE TROPICAL BLUE TUNIC - BLEACHED

A fabulous, well-preserved Luftwaffe blue service tunic, which has faded in the same manner as many of the army tunics when worn continuously in the desert conditions. Interestingly, it has faded unevenly; we believe that this may have been one of the chemically bleached tunics. It was a fashion amongst the personnel in the desert to make them appear to be long-serving soldiers or airmen, and they used a mixture of petrol to bleach their tunics. Although this tunic does have considerable wear around the collar, the uneven bleaching across the whole of the body of the tunic indicates chemical bleaching. However, the normally shaded, protected areas underneath the pocket flaps, underneath the collar fold and the closed front skirt of the tunic all show a different shade of blue; it is only around the armpit and the upper pocket areas where some of the original blue remains. The insignia fitted is that of a Hauptgefreiter: a pair of slip-on shoulder boards, yellow wool piped; one pip appears to be removed from each shoulder board. With the two pips present, it would have been the rank of Oberfeldwebel. Whether these pips have been removed intentionally or otherwise is unknown to us. Collar patches yellow-based with three seagulls attached. Evidence of three awards fitted to the upper right-hand pocket as the tunic is worn. Standard machine-embroidered grey on Luftwaffe blue-grey breast eagle. All buttons are of the removable pattern.

Ref; 84631